Report: Knicks To Formally Request Permission To Speak To Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd

According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the New York Knicks will formally request permission to speak to Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd. 

The Knicks need a new head coach after firing Tom Thibodeau, who guided the franchise to the conference finals this year for the first time since 2000. 

Kidd played one season with the Knicks in 2012-13. He’s very close with New York star Jalen Brunson, who began his career in Dallas with Kidd as his head coach. 

“The New York Knicks are expected to formally request permission to speak to the Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Kidd about their coaching vacancy in coming days, league sources say,” Stein wrote. “Also unclear: How Dallas would ultimately respond to the Knicks’ phone call. The Mavericks could certainly swat away the Knicks’ request for permission, but attempts this week by The Stein Line to outright confirm such a posture have been unsuccessful.”

NBA insider Tim MacMahon of ESPN “would not dismiss” the possibility of Kidd leaving Dallas for New York.

MacMahon covers the Mavericks, so he has sources close to Kidd. 

“So you’ve got to bring in a relationships guy,” MacMahon said on Thursday’s episode of The Hoop Collective. “And listen, one of the names that’s been thrown out there is a man who’s under contract with another team, but definitely a guy who has relationships not just with Jalen Brunson, but with a lot of people in that organization. And that’s Jason Kidd. And what I will say about that is, I would not dismiss that possibility.”

Kidd has coached the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Mavericks, compiling a record of 362-339 in the regular season and 31-33 in the playoffs. 

Dallas made the NBA Finals last year, losing to the Boston Celtics in five games.

Mavericks GM Nico Harrison traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers this year for Anthony Davis, a move Kidd was not on board with. Dallas missed the postseason this year.